At Coliseum, comedian hammers fish and he's haunted by doughnuts

Jim Gaffigan made himself at home at the Indiana State Fair, where Sunday's closing day featured the Hoosier comedian onstage at the Coliseum.

Gaffigan enjoyed a comfortable homecoming, filling his 60-minute performance with jokes about the state where he grew up and a steady diet of food-related observations.

Wearing blue jeans and a black T-shirt, Gaffigan said he's "fatted out" of plenty of clothes. The fair's battalion of food vendors won't help to reverse the trend. The 48-year-old said he spent 20 minutes exploring the fair before the show, resulting in 30 new pounds.

As his casual wardrobe indicated, Gaffigan didn't treat the event as if the Coliseum were Carnegie Hall. He riffed on restroom attendants ("What flavor is that gum?" "Bathroom.") as well our trust in elevators ("a casket on a string").

The show ended with Gaffigan's signature dismantling of Hot Pockets stuffed sandwiches. Coming across as more of a rushed recital than comedic triumph, "Hot Pockets" illustrates the dilemma of greatest hits for stand-up specialists. Did a packed house at the 8,000-capacity Coliseum deserve something new during the final five minutes of Gaffigan's visit?

A local treat arrived with Colts punter Pat McAfee, who made a cameo master-of-ceremonies appearance between supporting act Ted Alexandro and Gaffigan. McAfee shared (allegedly accurate) details of Gaffigan's pre-show meal: pork tenderloin sandwich, doughnut burger and an order of fried butter.

Gaffigan, who grew up in Munster and Chesterton in Northwest Indiana, tossed a dart or two at the Region: "I don't know who they named Gary after, but he had some B.O." He also reached back in his repertoire to revisit adolescent days as a server in a Mexican restaurant. The mantra, Gaffigan recalled, was tortilla, meat, cheese and vegetables. "One entree, seven different names," he said.

Moving farther into the realm of food, Gaffigan talked about receiving boxes of doughnuts of gifts while he's on the road. "I'm not not going to eat them," he said.

Fish, however, ranks as "disgusting" on Gaffigan's culinary chart. When someone orders fish in a restaurant, they're saying, "I like to waste money." The highest compliment a fish entree can receive is, "It's not fishy," Gaffigan said.

While Gaffigan is known for steering clear of R-rated content, he's not unfamiliar with edgy content.

At the Coliseum, he imagined Hitler's voice as being a cross between Sammy Davis Jr. and Bing Crosby. In tandem with the previously mentioned elevator bit, Gaffigan described what it's like to meet a stranger in a "creepy" stairwell: "If you don't rape me, I won't rape you."

And Gaffigan speculated on reactions if Jesus Christ routinely multiplied bread, but had no control over the type. Everyone's happy when pretzel bread and garlic knots appear. Melba toast? Not so much. "Oh, that never happened before," Gaffigan said, mustering a deity's apology.

Opening act Alexandro, who earned laughs by detailing the frustrations of being an elementary school music teacher ("Hot Cross Buns" on the recorder, for instance), tweeted two behind-the-scenes photos to document Gaffigan's visit to the fair: